Self-sealing container and blank therefor



Dec. 13, 1966 R. HEss f 3,291,368

SELF-SEALING CONTAINER AND BLANK THEREFOR Filed Sept. 25, 1964 3 SheeS-Sheeb l l .IIN l |l||. 'I I lll.. I C@ wrwn, l. u ma We,

Dec. 13, 1966 R. HESS 3,291,368

SELF-SEALING CONTAINER AND BLANK THEREFOR 5 Sheensheet 2 Filed sept. 25, 1964 l UMH-H:

Dec. 13, 1966 R. HESS 3,291,368

SELF-SEALING CONTAINER AND BLANK THEREFOR Filed Sept. 25, 1964 .'3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent O 3,291,368 SELF-SEALING CNTAINER AND BLANK THEREFOR Rolland Hess, Colby, Wis., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Packaging Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 399,147 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-37) This invention relates to a self-sealing container, a blank therefor, and a method of forming said container from said blank. The blank is preferably formed of a sheet of libreboard material (e.g., double face corrugated boxboard) and, when completed, forms a quadrilateral container capable of being stacked when in a collapsed condition with other similar collapsed containers.

Various containers of this type and methods of forming same have heretofore been proposed. Examples of such prior containers are to be found in Greene et al. Patent No. 3,116,008 and Kelsall Patent No. 2,874,891. These containers as well as others constituting the prior art are beset with certain shortcomings, such as the necessity of applying a single pressure sensitive self-adhering adhesive in only certain well defined areas ,on various surfaces of the container closure iiaps. Furthermore, by reason of such well dened areas only a limited amount of ahesive can be applied with the result that optimum bonding between the folded closure flaps cannot always be obtained. In many instances the pattern of the adhesive area is dependent upon the shape of the completed containers. Some of these certain well defined adhesive areas are of complex configuration requiring specific manufacturing techniques working within close tolerances and thus such containers are not suitable to an automatic high speed production.

Thus, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a self-sealing container, blank therefor, and method of forming such container which are not possessed of the above-enumerated shortcomings of the prior art.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a self-sealing container which is readily collapsible, and when in a collapsed state, is capable of being stored in stacked relation with other like collapsed containers without adjacent containers in the stack adhering to one another.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a self-sealing container wherein optimum areas of the folded closure flaps are bonded together when the container is set up.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide Y a method of forming a self-sealing container wherein the size and shape of the blank therefor may vary over a wide range and still permit the container to be readily set up or, when in a collapsed state, to be readily stacked with other like collapsed containers without the stacked containers adhering to one another.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention a self-sealing collapsible container is provided which includes a plurality of foldably connected wall `panels set up to form a tubular member. Foldably connected to at least one end of the tubular member are a plurality of inner and outer closure flaps separated from one another by elongated cuts. The closure liaps are folded relative to one another into overlying relation to effect closing of the tubular member one end. The surface of each inner flap in contact with the overlying outer iiaps being coated with a pressure sensitive first adhesive and the 3,29l,368 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 ICC surface of each outer iiap in contact with said inner liaps being coated with a pressure sensitive second adhesive. The second adhesive is not capable of adhering to itself but is bondable only to the coating of said first adhesive.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a plan view of a blank for one form of a self-sealing slotted container having a glue flap which is substantially the same dimension as the side wall panel to which it is secured.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the blank of FIG. 1 shown in a foldably collapsed condition.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the foldably collapsed blank of FIG. 2 subsequent to the latter being squared up to form a tubular member with the end closure flaps thereof fully open.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but showing the closure flaps in one position of fold.

FIG. 5 is an`enlarged fragmentary perspective View of a closed end of the self-sealing container formed from the blank shown in FIG. l.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a modified blank for a selfsealing fall liap slotted container wherein the inner closure flaps thereof overlap one another and the outer closure flaps overlap one another when said blank is set up to form a container.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the blank of FIG. 6 shown in a foldably collapsed condition.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the foldably collapsed blank of FIG. 7 subsequent to the latter being squared up to form a tubular member with the end closure flaps thereof fully open.

FIGS. 9, 10, and 11 are fragmentary perspective views of one end of the tubular member of FIG. 8 and showing various stages .of folding the end closure flaps to effect a closed container.

FIG. 12 is similar to FIGS. 1 and 6 but showing another modied blank for a self-sealing overlap slotted container wherein only the outer closure flaps overlap one another when the blank is set up to form a container.

FIG. 13 is a` fragmentary plan view of the blank of FIG. l2'shown in a foldably collapsed condition.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the foldably collapsed blank of FIG. 13 subsequent to the latter being squared up to form a tubular member with the end closure flaps thereof fully open.

FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 are perspective views of the member of FIG. 14 and showing the end closure iiaps in various stages of folding to effect a closed container.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, a blank 2i) is formed, in this instance, from a sheet of double-faced corrugated fibreboard material which is adapted, when completed, to form a regular slotted container 21, see FIG. 5. The blank 20 includes a pair of end walls 22 and a pair of side walls 23 which are arranged in alternate side by side relation and foldably connected to one another. In the illustrated embodiment, a full glue flap 24 is provided which is foldably connected to the right side of the right hand side wall 23, see FIG. 1.

Foldably connected to opposite ends of the respective end and side walls are end closure flaps 25a, 25b, 26a, and 26h which are adapted to be folded relative to one another so as to close the ends of the container as shown in FIG. 5.

End aps 25a and 25b, which are connected to the end walls 22, are commonly designated as the inner flaps. On the other hand, end flaps 26a and 26b, which are connected to the opposite ends of the side walls 23, are commonly designated as the outer flaps. The adjacent end aps are separated from one another by slots 27.

In the illustrated embodiment, the side walls 23 are wider than the end walls 22. The width in this instance being determined by measuring in a direction taken transverse to the foldlines connecting adjacent walls.

It will be noted in FIG. 1 that end aps 25a and 25b have the concealed surfaces thereof coated with an adhesive A and end flaps 26a and 26b have the exposed surfaces thereof (that is surfaces thereof opposite those of flaps 25a and 25b coated with adhesive A) coated with a different type of adhesive B. Adhesives A and B each have a property of being bondable to the other. It is important that adhesive B is not scalable unto itself, whereas adhesive A may or may not be self-sealing in addition to being bondable to adhesive B. Representative examples of adhesives A and B are those sold commercially by H. B. Fuller Company as S519 and 521 both of which may include detackiers such as soap, starch or polyvinylacetate. Exposed B adhesive coated surfaces are shown by stippling in FIG. 1 and the concealed A adhesive coated surfaces are shown by broken parallel lines. When the A adhesive coated surfaces are exposed a plurality of parallel lines are utilized. This manner of showing two types of adhesives will be followed hereinafter. Thus, by reason of the aforesaid characteristics or properties of adhesives A and B, blank may readily assume a collapsed condition, as seen in FIG. 2, without any danger of end flaps 26a and 26h adhering to one another. Furthermore, the coated (adhesive A) surfaces of end flaps a and 2517, while exposed when the blank is in the foldably collapsed condition, do not present any problem, regardless of whether adhesive A is self-sealing or not, because when a plurality of collapsed blanks are arranged in stacked relation either for storage or transporting, the coated surface of flap 25a of one blank is offset with respect to the coated surface of Hap 25b of the next adjacent blank.

By reason of using two types of adhesives on blank 20 and the fact that only one of the adhesives is applied to one surface of the blank and the other adhesive is applied only to the other surface of the blank and that the Whole one surface of each flap may be coated, rather than merely critically defined areas of such one surface, application of the two adhesives to the blank may be readily accomplished by automatic equipment.

It is will be noted that blank 20 as illustrated includes a full panel type glue ap; however, it is to be understood, of course, that other size and shape glue flaps may be readily utilized in practicing the invention. The concealed surface of flap 24, see FIG. 1, may, if desired, be coated with adhesive A and the exposed surface of the left-hand end panel coated with adhesive B, whereby flap 24 and end panel 22 will readily become bonded to one another upon their being brought into surface to surface engagement with one another. On the other hand, flap 24 may be secured to the left-hand end panel 22 by conventional glue used for this purpose by means of staples or the like, not shown.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3-5, the sequence of steps followed in closing the end is quite simple and well known once the collapsed blank has been squared up to form a tubular member as seen in FIG. 3. Inner aps 25a and 25b are first folded inwardly toward one another so as to present the coated surfaces A thereof to the coated surfaces B of the outer flaps 26a and 26h when the latter are folded into overlapping relation with the inner flaps.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a blank 28 which is capable of forming a container 30 of a generally full flap slotted type. Blank 28 is provided with pairs of end panels 31 and side panels 32 arranged in a manner similar to the end and side panels formed in blank 20. Likewise, pairs of end aps 33a and 33b and 34a and 34b are foldably connected to the ends of the respective panels 31 and 32 in the same way as previously described with respect to blank 20.

In blank 28 it should be noted that certain of the end flaps, namely, flaps 34a and 33b are coated on opposite sides with two types of adhesives C and D. The characteristics or properties of adhesives C and D may be the same as adhesives A and B, that is to say they will adhere only to each other but not Ito themselves. The reason that it is important in blank 28 that adhesives C and D adhere to one another but not to themselves is due to the fact that, when one blank 28 assumes a foldably collapsed condition, see FIG. 7, the surface of ap 34a thereof coated with adhesive C would be in contact with the surface of ap 33a of a second blank coated with adhesive C, when the two collapsed blanks are arranged in stacked relation. When blank 28 is set up to form container 30, the collapsed blank is rst squared up to form a tubular member, see FIG. 8. Flap 33a is then folded inwardly and end flap 33b brought into overlapping relation with end Hap 33a, see FIG. 9. It will be noted that surface of ap 33b which overlaps and contacts the adhesive C coated surface of flap 33a is coated with adhesive D.

End flap 34a is brought into overlapping relation with ends flaps 33a and 33b and then is overlapped by end flap 34b, see FIGS. 10 and 11. The surface of flap 3312 which is engaged by overlapping flap 34a is coated with adhesive C, see FIG. 10. Thus, the adhesive D coated surface of flap 34a will effectively adhere to the exposed adhesive C coated surfaces of the folded flaps 33a and 3317. Flap 34a is also coated with adhesive C on the opposite surface so -that the adhesive D coated surface of flap 34b will bond thereto when the flap 34h is brought into overlapping folded relation with respect to flap 34a, see FIGS. 10 and 11.

Blank 28, as illustrated, is provided with a conventional -glue ap 35, see FIG. 6, which is adapted to adhesivcly engage a surface of the left-hand end panel 31. The concealed surface of flap 35, may, if desired, be coated with adhesive C so as to adhere to a strip 36 of adhesive D applied to the left-hand side of the exposed surface of the left-hand end panel 31. If desired, however, flap 3S may be secured to end panel 31 lby conventional glue used for this purpose or by staples or tape.

As in the case of blank 20, it is important to note that adhesive C is applied to only one surface of the blank, and adhesive D is applied only to the opposite surface of the blank. By reason of this fact, therefore, coating of the blank may be readily accomplished with automatic equipment.

FIG. 12 shows a second modified blank 37 which is adapted to form an overlap slotted container 38. Blank 37 is similar to blanks 20 and 28 in that it includes end panels 40 and side panels 41 arranged in alternate side by side relation. Foldably connected to the opposite ends of the panels are end flaps 4211 and 42b and 43a and 43b. Foldably connected to the right-hand side panel 41 is a glue ap 44. The concealed surfaces of aps 42a, 42b, and 44, as seen in FIG. 12, are all coated with an adhesive E. It is not essential, however, that flap 44 be so coated as it may be secured to panel 40 by conventional glue used for such purpose or by staples or tape. In addition, a strip 45 of adhesive E, is also applied to the concealed surface of ap 43a, as viewed in FIG. 12. The exposed surfaces of flaps 43a and b as seen in FIG. 12 are coated with an adhesive F. A strip 46 of adhesive F may also be applied to the exposed surface of end panel 40, see FIG. 12, which is adapted -to bond to glue ap 44, when the latter is coated with adhesive E and the blank assumes a collapsed condition as seen in FIG. 13.

As in the case of adhesives C-D, heretofore described, adhesives E and F are bondable to each other and Inot to themselves. By reason of this fact, a plurality of fold ably collapsed blanks (FIG. 13) may readily be arranged in stacked relation for shipment or storage without the possibility of the adjacent blanks sticking to one another.

Strip 45 of adhesive E provided on flap 43a is adapted to present itself to the adhesive F coated surface of ap 43h when the latter is brought into overlapping relation with respect to flap 43a. As will be seen in FIG. 12, only the concealed surface of blank 37 has portions thereof coated with adhesive E while only portions of the exposed surface thereof are coated with adhesive F, and thus, the application of the adhesives by automatic mechanical means is greatly simplified and expedited.

In practicing the aforedescribed invention, containers and blanks therefor of a variety yof shapes and sizes, other than that illustrated herein, may be utilized. Furthermore, the relative disposition of the closure flaps when the container end is closed may be reversed from that shown without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the container shown in FIGS. 1-5, the inner aps 25a and 25b may be disposed on the outside and overlap flaps 26a and 26b. In such an arrangement the adhesives A and B would be applied to the opposite surfaces of the flaps from that shown in FIG. l. In addition, material other than double-faced corrugated fibreboard may also be used in forming the container blanks. In certain instances where adhesive costs are a factor, the adhesive applied to the contacting surfaces of the longer flaps, whether they be inner or outer flaps, need not cover the entire surface but only portions of the surface in contact with the other fiaps.

Thus, it will be seen that a self-sealing container and blank therefor has been provided which does not require adhesives to `be applied to uniquely designed delimited areas which materially complicates the application of such adhesives to such blanks. Furthermore, by reason of the adhesives being non-self-sealing, the blanks when in folded collapsed condition may be readily arranged in stacked relation without adjacent blanks sticking together. Large areas of the closure flaps may be coated with adhesives and thus, a highly effective adhesive bond may be readily obtained between the overlapping flaps.

While several embodiments of this invention have been described above, further modifications may be made thereto and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A collapsible self-sealing type of container comprising a plurality of foldably connected wall panels forming a tubular member, a plurality of flaps foldably connected to said wall panels at one end of said tubular member, said flaps including inner and outer flaps in overlying relation and closing said tubular member one end, a first type pressure-sensitive adhesive applied throughout substantially the entire surface of each inner ap in contact with said outer flap, and a second type pressure-sensitive adhesive applied throughout substantially the entire surface of each outer flap in contact with said inner ap; said second type adhesive being bondable only with said first type adhesive.

2. The container recited in claim 1 wherein both said first and second types of adhesives are bondable only to each other.

3. A blank of foldable sheet material for use in forming a collapsible self-sealing type of container, said blank comprising a plurality of end wall panels and side wall panels arranged in alternate side by side relation, adjacent side and end wall panels being foldably connected to one another, the width of said side wall panels being greater than the width of said end wall panels, closure flaps foldably connected to at least one side of said wall panels, said closure flaps being separated from one another by elongated cuts, the widths of said closure flaps corresponding substantially to the widths of said wall panels to which they are foldably connected, said closure flaps being in overlying relation when said blank is set up to form the container, a pressure-sensitive first type adhesive applied to substantially the whole area of a corresponding one surface of the closure aps connected to said end wall panels, and a pressure-sensitive second type adhesive applied to substantially the whole area of a corresponding second surface of the closure flaps connected to said side wall panels, said second surface being opposite said one surface; said applied second type adhesive being bondable only to said applied first type adhesive when said blank is set up to form the container.

4. The blank recited in claim 3 wherein both said first and second types of adhesive are bondable only to each other.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 786,664 8/1904 Johnson. 1,094,451 4/1914 Martin. 1,105,144 7/1914 Johnson. 2,217,757 10/ 1940 Lindley 229-37 2,874,891 2/ 1959 Kelsall 229-37 3,116,008 12/1963 Greene et al 229-48 3,184,144 5/1965 Greene et al 229-37 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Examiner. 

1. A COLLAPSIBLE SELF-SEALING TYPE OF CONTAINER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FOLDABLY CONNECTED WALL PANELS FORMING A TUBULAR MEMBER, A PLURALITY OF FLAPS FOLDABLY CONNECTED TO SAID WALL PANELS AT ONE END OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBER, SAID FLAPS INCLUDING INNER AND OUTER FLAPS IN OVERLYING RELATION AND CLOSING SAID TUBULAR MEMBER ONE END, A FIRST TYPE PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE APPLIED THROUGHOUT SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE SURFACE OF EACH INNER FLAP IN CONTACT WITH SAID OUTER FLAP, AND A SECOND TYPE PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE APPLIED THROUGHOUT SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE SURFACE OF EACH OUTER FLAP IN CONTACT WITH SAID INNER FLAP; SAID SECOND TYPE ADHESIVE BEING BONDABLE ONLY WITH SAID FIRST TYPE ADHESIVE. 